UK Brands Still Have Work To Do On Mobile

Some would consider it encouraging that almost 40% of Britain’s top 100 brands have done well on the mobile front, making fully mobile-optimised websites available to their customers. But given the constantly growing importance of the channel, I dare say most would zoom in on the fact that more than 60% have failed to do so.

This has been revealed through a study conducted by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), the trade association for online and mobile advertising. Among the 37% found to have done the job properly are Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Boots, Argos and B&Q.

Other findings provide the latest piece of evidence that a mobile-optimised website delivers tremendous benefits for brands. The IAB established that optimisation resulted in 192% more unique visitors compared to the number clocked in by mobile-unfriendly sites. Optimised websites also have 304% more visitors per day and 490% more visits in total.

Besides drawing in significantly larger numbers of visitors, mobile-optimised platforms also keep them engaged for longer. People browsing such websites stuck around for five minutes on average, which is two minutes more than the dwell time for non-optimised sites. The number of pages viewed per month also shows the advantages of optimisation, the score being 19, compared to 12 if the site is not optimised.

Given the fact that more than 14 million Britons go online every day via their mobile devices, making content easily accessible and ensuring a seamless experience is of immense importance for brands, the IAB pointed out.